Residents have right to travel interisland

I am a citizen of Hawaii; I have a constitutional right to intrastate travel. You say then fly, fly, fly. When do you think the cheap air fares will go away? I believe as soon as competition drops.

The traditional mode of transportation in Hawaii has been by sea. What is in the minds of the few opponents of the Superferry who deny the citizens of this state the right to travel? What is next, a visa to travel to Kauai? Look at the islands of Maui and Kauai now, rich resorts and the locals to serve them. Is that pono?

Interisland travel by residents of Hawaii will bring back a sense of independence for the state and not just dependence on the barge and the plane. Look at the future with imagination, not fear.

Linda Morin
Honolulu

STAR-BULLETIN / 1999
The Japanese custom of shoe removal includes providing indoor slippers to guests. A shelf holds slippers for guests at the Natsunoya Tea House in Honolulu.

Hawaii's shoes-off custom sometimes difficult to bare

Taking off one's shoes is a custom in many Hawaii homes.

Everyone seems to have it wrong. They go through the physical motions of taking off their shoes but lack the inside slippers as is the custom in Japan.

I was recently at a friends home and everyone was upset because I did not take off my shoes. The carpet was filthy, they had five dogs inside that play outdoors all day and they expect me to bare my feet in all that filth and bacteria.

The custom in Japan is to take off your shoes and don a clean pair of slippers, either supplied by the host or you bring your own. When going to the bathroom, you take off your house slippers and don your bathroom slippers, because you do not want to spread bathroom bacteria to the rest of the house.

I do not understand the Hawaii custom of taking off one's shoes in many homes when you are walking in many instances in a dirty environment with other barefooted people who might have bacteria infections such as the contagious athlete's feet.

The shoes-off custom is suppose to be hygienic, and it is not hygienic to have bare sweaty dirty feet walking on floors. Hawaii needs to take a lesson from our Japanese friends before leaving their footwear unattended.

The old expression of "your feet run and your nose smells" should be reversed for Hawaii, "where your nose runs and your feet smell."

James "Kimo" Rosen
Kapaa, Kauai

Kelly showed one man can make a difference

Forty years ago when I was a student at McKinley High School, I marched to the state Capitol with hundreds of mostly young people demanding that the powers-that-be "Save Our Surf." John Kelly was the tireless organizer behind SOS and on that day, he made me realize that by organizing and taking action, I could make a difference.

Margaret Mead once wrote, "Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have."

John was that kind of person. And we are all the better for it.

Roy Takumi
Pearl City

Thanks for shedding light on beach plan

On Sept. 19, the Star-Bulletin's Nina Wu wrote an enlightening story about Kyo-Ya Hotels and Resorts plan to widen Gray's Beach, located in front of the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.

How is it possible that a project of this magnitude, affecting the invaluable public resource of Waikiki Beach, was not mentioned in the environmental assessment draft Kyo-Ya filed in August?

Why would Kyo-Ya fail to respond to this specific issue when questioned by the Star-Bulletin?

Why would Kyo-Ya declare that a dialogue exists with the stakeholders?

How can a dialogue exist when none of the stakeholders were aware of this widening plan?

The secrecy and lack of commentary by Kyo-Ya only serves to raise public suspicions about this project.

Kudos to George Downing and his organization Save Our Surf, and to the Star-Bulletin for making the public aware of the Gray's Beach widening project.

Welcome to the dialogue, Kyo-Ya.

Frank Mento
Honolulu

Anti-military bias exposes naive view

The underlying theme of Tony Castanha's anti-military-industrial complex letter describes a tone of ingratitude and misconception (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 5). The military exists for purposes other than destruction. To hear Castanha and other brilliant academics speak, all military forces should be abolished so the world can peacefully sit around the oval table and talk out disagreements. An elementary survey of history and psychology of man will reveal that this fairy-tale view of the world is unrealistic. Your very freedom to print and speak out your objections to the military-industrial complex has been paid for in blood by men and women who voluntarily gave the ultimate sacrifice, not for themselves, but for you and their country.

To quote Dwight Eisenhower from the very speech in which he introduced the term military-industrial complex, "A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction."

These words are so much more ominous today in the terrorism era. Are you teaching this concept in your political science lectures at the University of Hawaii as well as the biased one your letter presented? Government, academia, military, private and nongovernment organizations must work together to achieve world peace and cooperation. Failure to do so will ensure continued conflict and eventual destruction of the human race.

James Roller
Mililani

Don't mess with Texas -- or its universities

It is interesting how someone would make an argument in a letter to the editor and have their facts wrong.

Tony Castanha's letter concerning the University of Hawaii research center stated that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was the former president of the University of Texas -- that's pure blasphemy in Texas! Gates was the president of Texas A&M University.

Come on Tony, that's like saying you are a lecturer at Kailua Elementary. Get your facts straight if you what to make a relevant argument.

Tom Swindell
Kailua

How do small theaters measure success?

It is unfortunate for small theaters that "The Lion King is attracting visitors (Star Bulletin, Oct. 2). If, however, productions like "The Lion King" might build interest in the theater, what is the complaint? The interest of those who weep over low ticket sales appears to be material gain.

In Ecclesiastes it says that "whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income." What is the measure of success for the mom-and-pop shops? Is it profits compared to other theaters in their class? Or is the goal to be the top-selling theater on the island?

The second option need not be sought. Dollar theaters, although not as rich, large or comfortable as the Consolidated Theaters, will continue to exist because they reach an audience.

If "The Lion King" draws more visitors to the theater, then the smaller theaters might gain an audience. The issue here is what each seeks to gain -- is it money or entertainment?

Joshua Kamakawiwoole
Ewa Beach

Watada should be judged by his peers

Hopefully, soldiers from Army 1st Lt. Erhen Watada returning unit (from Iraq) will make up the court and jury that sits in on his court-martial (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 3).

MacPherson asserts that Bill 57, now being considered by the City Council, would allow the "windfall from the sale of the city's affordable housing buildings" to pay for sewer repairs.

That is not true. The bill actually requires that monies realized from the sale of real property not otherwise designated for deposit into another fund or for another purpose, be deposited into the Reserve for Fiscal Stability Fund.

The Reserve for Fiscal Stability Fund, created at the behest of Mayor Mufi Hannemann, is a safety net to help the city in times of crisis, and is a positive influence on the city's bond rating, potentially saving millions in bond financing by allowing the city to borrow at lower interest rates.

Also untrue is MacPherson's claim that the poorest will bear the cost of sewer repairs. The maintenance and repair of our sewers are paid for by bonds and the sewer fees paid by Honolulu homeowners.

As for his concern over the "qualifications" of the new owners of the buildings, Hannemann has promised that the housing will remain affordable and the new owners will be experienced in maintaining and managing affordable housing.

Finally, as for MacPherson's bewilderment that the city no longer has a housing department, that change was mandated in 1998 when Honolulu voters amended the City Charter.

Hannemann, however, is doing something about affordable housing. He has hired a special assistant, whose entire focus is to develop affordable housing through private and public partnerships, determine the resources available to the city and how to best use them, and explore state and federal resources and determine how to best leverage these resources.

We are focused on housing solutions and we welcome constructive comments from the public to achieve these goals.

Cyndy Aylett
Mayor's Review Project manager

Let's promote Hawaii as isles of health

Regarding David "Kawika" Crowley's column Sept. 18 "No aloha in smoking ban": I support the smoking ban. I value my life, my lungs. Why would you support death for others? It seems a very selfish act.

Hawaii would best be promoted as Islands of Health. Where people in Japan, China and Korea can come for clean air, a healthy lifestyle. No cigarette butts, please, on our sidewalks, streets and beaches.

Pat Blair

Kailua

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